Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells has a secret: he's flat broke. The charity Community Money Advice last month revealed that the number of people in the Kentish town seeking advice for debt rose by 234 per cent in 2007, mainly because of a surge in inquiries from professional people. Credit is becoming an increasing problem for the town's housebuyers, says James Cairns, from Hamptons International. "Sales are significantly down," he says. "Last year, it was rare for sales to fall through. Now there are long delays in getting mortgages agreed and it is difficult to resurrect chains when a sale falls through." But in one sense, says Dan Boyes of Alexandre Boyes estate agents, the credit crisis helps Tunbridge Wells: its state grammar schools hold great appeal for parents struggling with school fees. "People are disregarding the market because they are desperate to get their kid into school for the next eight years," he says.

Harrogate

Properties sold/withdrawn from market between Jan 1, 2007 and May 1, 2007: 1,375

Properties sold/withdrawn from market between Jan 1, 2008 and May 1, 2008: 509

Properties for sale on May 1, 2007: 1279

Properties for sale on May 1, 2008: 1391

"Estate agents have never been popular," says David Copley of agents Beadnall Copley, "But we really are having to earn our money at the moment. We are selling less than half the properties we sold last year. A lot of properties came on the market at the start of this year at optimistic asking prices. Homes coming on now are undercutting them. Modern four-bedroom executive houses are struggling like hell because there are so many of them." In a couple of cases, he has achieved sales by persuading buyers to do a part-exchange. In one case, a downsizer exchanged her £800,000 home for a £495,000 one. "If she had had a choice she wouldn't have chosen that house, but she would have bought something very much like it. The last time I had to do part-exchange deals was in 1991."

Home of the week: Currie in no hurry

When Edwina Currie and her husband John Jones put their five-bedroom Surrey home up for sale last May, the market was roaring ahead, and the couple were bullish enough to go house-hunting in Derbyshire before finding a buyer. A year on, however, their plans have been frustrated. The property, a large barn conversion arranged around a courtyard at South Nutfield, is still languishing among a growing number of unsold properties - despite the price having been reduced from £835,000 to £799,950. "There has not been a lot of interest," admits Howard Bettridge of Hamptons (01883 345255). "For a courtyard development the range of buyers is restricted." Maybe Edwina should try removing her Spitting Image puppet from a bookshelf in the living room, just in case that is putting buyers off.

Statistic of the week: 1.2%

In spite of falling prices, buy-to-let investors have been widely reported to be "cashing in" as frustrated buyers are forced to rent instead. But are they? Not according to the website Primelocation, which last week announced that there had been a fall of 1.2 per cent in rental prices in prime central London in April. This is the first fall since September 2005, and is likely to be followed by further falls: stock levels of rental properties rose 6.9 per cent over the month.

To a certain extent, the housing and rental markets are counter-cyclical: when one rises the other falls. But, as Primelocation shows, housing and rental prices can move in the same direction. One factor is that a large part of the prime rental market in Central London is to foreign bankers, which is a shrinking market due to cuts in City headcounts. There is another reason why rents don't always rise when house sales fall: when people buy houses they are prepared to spend as much as they possibly can. When they rent a property, on the other hand, they tend to be driven by a desire to save as much money as possible.